Winter Babies From Cassidy And Valorie...And Another Bday

Earlier I was looking at Cassidy's udder...it grew! It's become a little more full than it has been these past few days. She's HUGE, her udder is growing, she's REALLY soft on her tailbone and ligaments...I really believe we'll be having some December babies from her here in a couple of weeks (or maybe sooner!). I just wouldn't be surprised at all...and this time I am almost a 100% possitive that she'll kid pretty soon. I've been wrong before, but I think I'm beginning to figure her out. Valorie also looks like she might kid in a month or so. I don't think that her udder is growing yet, but her stomach is REALLY big. One thing I have to tell you about Valorie is that she's always been really skinnny and small. So when she puts on wait and begins having a round stomach - there's a pretty good chance she's pregnant. And if she is going to kid, I think she'll have twins, because she looks bigger than she was with Charlotte. I'm really hoping that they'll kid right before or right after Christmas so we can have Christmas babies! :) I'm so excited!! Even if they don't kid in December, I'm almost possitive they're pregnant and that they will have their baby(s) sometime this winter...having babies is always such a joy on our farm! I'm hoping that Cassidy will have at least one girl, because we'll Lord willing keep her. To me whatever Valorie has I'll be extremely happy with. All the babies we have this winter - except Cassidy's girl (if she has one) will be sold next year probably. It will be sad, but it's a part of having goats. If we didn't sell any, our farm would be overflowing with goats everywhere! :)

 See her round stomach?

We need to take a moment to say Happy Birthday to Comet, our dear wether, born on this farm exactly two years ago today. He had a twin sister named Starlight who we sadly lost to a dog attack on April 19, 2008. It was aweful and I will always regret loosing her even though we could do nothing about it. But our sweet Comet lived on with no bruises or cuts at all. He's done very well as an "adult". I call him "my boyfriend" as he's always been very lovable with me. It's a little thing we both have fun pretending...even though he has no idea about it! Anyway, Happy Birthday to our precious Comet! I will always love him no matter how mean he is to the other goats...oops. I guess I wasn't supposed to spill the beans on that one! Ha, ha, ha, ha! :) :

Happy Birthday buddy! :)

WELCOME BACK

We just got back a few hours ago from our trip. It was a very nice Thanksgiving! The Lord has blessed us immensely with wonderful family! When we got back the first thing we did was go see the goats. Essie saw us first and bleated really loudly (you would never believe how funny her bleat is!)...but it was her "WELCOME BACK!!!!!!" that I appreciated very much. It was the thought that counts. Ha, ha, ha...:) :) :)...

When we got down there we pet a few of them and I held Cocoa - she's "my baby". All sixteen were there...thank the Lord! No new babies from Cassidy. I still think she's close though.

Thanking the Lord for a wonderful trip and sixteen loved goats that were kept safe while we were away. :)

~Happy Thanksgiving Goats~

This morning I went out and took some pictures of our goats. Hadn't done it in a couple week so I thought I should. I'll hopefully post some of them in a few days. Cassidy tonight looked like she MIGHT be kidding soon. I can never figure her out. But I wouldn't be surprised if she has her baby(s) in a couple more weeks - if she's pregnant. I know it sounds pretty bad. We don't always know when our does get pregnant. Normally we can tell after a couple months that they're pregnant though. Back in August and September we thought for sure she would kid. Her ligaments were really soft and she was huge! But if she does kid here in a couple weeks that means she would have gotten pregnant around that time. And if that's true then I think her body begins gettting ready for the "big day" right after she's pregnant. I'm not sure if that's possible or not, but it's the only thing I can come up with. :) I won't be posting anymore this week since we're going to be travelling for Thanksgiving. Before we leave we'll give them a lot of food and water, say our good-byes and won't be seeing them again until Friday night. Lord willing they'll be okay while we're gone. I hope our goats have a wonderful Thanksgiving! And you too of course! :) :) :)...

THE FIGHT OF THE FURIOUS FOUR

I woke up this morning and went to do the chores. I found that Annaliese and Hosea found out how to get into the orchard by sliding underneath a fence that was inside the pen where the loafing shed is placed. Those sneaky pygmies ALWAYS seem to find a way to get into places they're not allowed to be in. I know this because the boer goats haven't ever had this problem...or at least not this bad. :) And Comet!! He literally "flew" over a fence we never thought he would know how to get over...but surprise!! He did! And boy did he do it well. All he had to do was get on top of a couple logs and leap over the pretty high fence that was there for a reason. I know now that it wasn't high enough! :) :) :)
Earlier today when we were out there, Essie and Cassidy were having a HUGE fight. About what? We don't know. But they were furious! They just kept going and going and going and going and going! Essie in particular would't give up bucking Cass - I have to tell you...I've never seen Essie look this evil before. Now, there's one thing you have to know before I go any further with this story. Essie is mean. Is that simple enough? She's pretty dumn and can be very mean to the other goats. So back to the story. As they're both fighting and hitting and hitting and fighting...Velvet gets tired of watching the war between the two and gets jealous (she likes to get into fights). So she decides that she's needed and "goes in for the kill". She waltses in to the "arena" and pushes Essie as they both fight. And then she bucks her "up and down up and down", as if she was saying..."Essie! I've had enough! You stop this "goat business" this instant! OR ELSE!!" She surrounds them. Her back hair is up - that means she's REALLY mad. Every once in a while she goes back in and gives them a little nudge as if to say,  "Break it up girls, break it up!". Well, Valorie is watching on the other end and gets tired of watching all the excitement and thinks she's needed too. So what do you think she does? She goes in! She gangs up on Essie and then they all four start butting each other! I've never seen FOUR does get into a this big of a fight before. They were just going at it! Valorie would be saying, "Let me at her!" Velvet, "Ahhhhhh! I'm so mad at you three!" Cassidy, "That's it!! You are SOOOO getting it!" And Essie,"Oooooh, I'm gonna... I'm gonna...well ...when I think of it I'll let you know, but for now, you get this and that and that and this!!" (remember she's dumn). Sometimes they would split into twos and fight that way. Velvet with Valorie (the two V's), and Cassidy and Essie. Finally, things calmed down and receded. But as we all watched this hilarious "show" we were all howling! We just thought that it was so funny. Never on our farm had we seen something like this. All I can say is...I WON'T forget it!

"Over the Hills And Through The Mud, To The Loafing Shed We All Go"

Last night when we closed the goats up, once again there were the same five goats in the goat house and the same ten in the loafing shed. We decided to move the five to the loafing shed with their other fellow goat "mates"...they looked a little lonely. Plus, Velvet outright deserted her babies each night as she decided to stay with the ten and have a night off of "babysitting" and leave the twins with the other three in the goat house. So I had had enough of that and moved them both with their mommy. As I have said before, however, GOATS HATE MUD. It's been EXTREMELY wet and muddy these past couple days and I had a little trouble getting the babies to walk through the mud to leave their pen. Brownie I think was the most hilarious. We have wood planks down on the groud in their pen that lead to the "doorway" so they won't have to walk through as much mud. So as I called Brownie to come out of the pen, he took the planks and was walking towards me and then all of a sudden he stopped at the doorway. He looked down at the mud that happened to be outside of the doorway, and he decided he wasn't going to go any furthur. His little "baaa...aaa" was so adorable as he looked up at me with pleading eyes. "Please don't make me walk through mud. I don't like it. Please pick me up and carry me! Please, please, please!!" it almost sounded like he was saying to me. Well, I'm a softy and after a little coaxing I gave up and picked the big baby boy up and carried him to the loafing shed. You could say he "caught a ride". He bleated again really quietly in my arms as if to say "THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!" as if he was on the verge of tears (if goats could cry). :) Cocoa was pretty similar, although she finally gave up and walked through it with "courage" and followed me to the other shelter. Comet was actually the first to walk out and desert the other four. I didn't have to coax him at all, he just went straight on over there. Essie and Gracie...well... let's just say they're the stupid goats of our herd and I had to drag them out. Here are some pics of the "Faithful Five" of the goat house. Enjoy! :)

~Big Baby On Top Of Little Baby~

Last night, we found the same five goats in the "goat house" and the same ten goats in the loafing shed. They are so funny. Once again, this morning I gave the goats some alfalfa cubes which they all think are tasty. As I was giving Cocoa a cube, one of the five goats in the "goat house" pen, I all of a sudden saw Gracie jump on top of Cocoa and lean on her back! Now, understand that Gracie is no longer a "baby", she's big! Cocoa is small as she is a pygmy/nigerian dwarf (plus she was just born in June). And as I was raising my hand with a cube in it, Gracie who was behind Cocoa had the guts to get on top of the poor thing to reach the cube that was in my hand!! And what's even funnier...Cocoa didn't think a thing about it! All she was thinking about was the cube in my hand because her eyes never left it. It was as if she was saying to me..."So she got on my back. Who cares? Give me the cube please." with an angelic face. They don't care, they just think it's a typical thing for one of their fellow goat friends to lean on their back as if they were a wall or fence! :) I've seen our other goats do this before, just not a "big baby on top of a little baby". That was very different. Here are a couple pics of Cocoa and Gracie...I want you to see their size comparison so hopefully you can picture how silly it looked when Gracie got on top of Cocoa! :)

Pete's Curiosity

This morning it was REALLY frigid and misting outside. So I decided to give the goats some alfalfa pellets just in case they didn't get that much food today. Let's go back a little bit. Last night when we went down to close them up we foud only five in their normal shelter (the chicken house, which has now become the "goat" house), and the other ten were in a totally other shelter which happened to be the loafing shed that has a lot of hay in it. So we went a head and left them separated for the night, we didn't think it would hurt. Back to the present. So as I'm getting the alfalfa pellets out of the freezer in the first half of the loafing shed where the goats were on the other side, there's a fence separating me from the ten goats right where the freezer is. So like I said, as I'm reaching down trying to get some alfalfa pellets in my scooper I all of a sudden hear a really loud noise. I looked up and there was Pete (our REALLY big and tall boer buck) with his head poking up right above the freezer top that was lifted as he leaned on the fence separating us. The loud noise I heard was obviously him jumping up to lean on the fence.I thought it was so cute!! He's taller than me when his two front legs are leaning on something. He's probably almost six feet tall! He was just curious to see what I was getting. His expression looked like he was saying..."What are you getting? Can I see? Can I have some? Please?". Silly Goats. :) :) :)...

Heads In The Fences

Nothing new with the goats. So I just thought that I would post some cute pictures of a few of our silly goats who stick their heads through the fence to get the grass on the other side - or simply want to see what's on the other side. I can't tell you how often we have had to walk out to our field with a bleating goat who got their head stuck in one of those tiny holes they SOMEHOW know how to get through but can't seem to figure out how to get out. There are countless stories that are all pretty similar...simply put - they get their heads' stuck and we come to the rescue. I've never understood  the saying "the grass is always greener on the other side" - 'cause that would be their excuse. And I'm thinking..."Well whats wrong with the grass that's available to you - right underneath your nose, are you just really picky or something?". And the answer to that question I guess is ...YES. Goats are very entertaining creatures I will say at that. :) :) :)...

PRICELESS MOMENTS AND GOOD LAUGHS

These are some great and not expected moments of picture taking of our goats - I think they're priceless! They obviously did not know that I was photagraphing them at the same time they were doing their special "thing" as you can see in these next few photos. I love these pictures since I caught them at some funny moments! I know I've posted a couple of these before, but I thought they deserved another showing since they were great pics! Enjoy - and I hope you get some good laughs!! :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)...

~Gennavieve And Annaliese~

 

The Goats Are doing great today! Here are some photos of Gennavieve and Annaliese, the twin pygmy/nigerian dwarf does who will be one year old on January 3rd!! They're growing up. :)

Goats Strolling Along The Highway

Yesterday during bible study, our neighbor called us and said that are goats were apparently along the fence near the highway!! My mom, my older sister, and little brother all went straight home to check on them and get them back in their proper place. My sister told me later that when they got home the goats were in our yard! I still have no idea how they did it...we're planning on figuring it out as soon as possible. Those silly goats! :)

Relaxing With The Goats

Yesterday I got to spend more time with our goats then I normally do. I've just been so busy that don't usually get to relax and pet them for a while. But as I said, yesterday I got to pet them more and even hold Cocoa and Hosea! :) They are all growing up, that's one thing I really noticed. Cookie, was finally put back on his chain where he belongs. If he's not on that thing - he causes trouble. We're hoping to sell him sometime soon. The goats were all waiting at the door once again this morning. I love them!! Here's my continuation of "Sticking Together" pics. :)

First Pics Of Gracie, Cookie, and Genevieve

The weather is amazing outside right now!!! I'm sure the goats love it! I was looking at my other pictures on my blog trying to figure out which of the goats I hadn't posted pictures of. I found a few...so here they are! Genevieve, Cookie and Gracie. Gracie (first), Cookie (second) and Genevieve (third)

Sticking Together

Earlier today I saw all of our goats running together to the orchard. Goats, as I'm sure you know, are herd animals. They can't live alone, they HAVE to have a companion. It's just a part of their nature. So with our goats, they're not always ALL together, but most of the time they're not alone. Some are dispersed over there, and some are over here. Now, one of our goats can be an exception however. Hosea, has always been really independent. Yes, he REALLY likes to be with the herd. But when he was little and even now sometimes, he likes to stay with me until I leave - even when the herd has already left to go graze. He likes to explore and go off by himself every once in a while too. He's a cutie pie. :) Here are some pics of a few of our goats and their companions. (They're always with somebody!) :) The first is of Cassidy (left) and Pete (right)...they are love birds! :) The second is of Katrina and her son Hosea...she's a first timer and she loves her baby very much. :) The third is of our three summer babies (Cocoa, Brownie, and Hosea)as they play... "Who can push down Cocoa first!" :) The fourth is of Valorie, Charlotte, and Arthur as they lay out in the sun together. Valorie has someimes literally taken Arthur in even though he's not her baby. :) The fifth is of Cassidy and her son, Arthur...she is an amazing mother and just adores her baby! I don't think I've ever seen a mommy doe like her before! :) Hope you enjoy looking at the sweet pictures! :) :)...

~Staring Goats and Fallen Leaves~

It was CHILLY outside this morning! As I walked down to open the gate for our goats, they all just stared at me as they stood out in the cold weather. I think it's so funny the way they wait for you to come down. It's like they're saying..."We've been waiting!" as they roll their eyes (if they could!) :) The moment they were let out they went straight for the fallen leaves underneath one of our trees that flourishes each year. Goats LOVE fallen leaves...they gobble them down as if they were pigs! (Thankfully they're not!) Essie's leg is doing a little better...she was still babying it a little this morning. I haven't figured out what could've happened, but like I said yesterday...it's nothing that serious. A lot of our goats limp every once in while. They either get into fights or one of the meaner or greedier goats takes advantage of their weakness and hurts them. They're strong though, so I think Essie's fine. :) Here's some pics of Comet - posing as "the staring goat"...Cocoa - posing as the goat eating a leaf...and Cassidy and Essie - posing as the "fighting goats" (or mean ones, whichever you prefer...:):)

~Essie and The Goats~

I opened the goats this morning and found that our doe, Essie, was limping on her left leg. Hopefully it's better now, I haven't checked. She seemed to be able to get around fine, so I don't think it was that serious. (thankfully!) I finally let the goats out into our orchard field...they were very excited about that! They love all the different kinds of grass and plants that exist there. We were keeping them out because the "smarter" ones were getting into places through holes that they weren't supposed to know about. But I thought that today it would be alright. :) They are really funny though. Our pygmies are so smart! Since they're small they tend to get through really small openings like it's a piece of cake. So they find ways to get into our neighbor's field, our clearing in the woods, and into our north field...like I said...they're smart. Our boer goats on the other hand are a lot dummer than our pygmies. They can't figure out the "hole thing" too well. (Thank goodness!) So as my sister says..."Goats are smarter than sheep, but dummer than cows" :) :) :)...

~My "Babies"~

Today has been so beautiful! I went out earlier to take some pictures of our goats. Cookie sure loves roaming around with his fellow "goat friends" (He's normally on a chain). Everyone is doing great! Cocoa is becoming a lovely little lady as her brother Brownie is becoming a hansom young wether. Hosea is dong wonderful as well...he is growing so fast! He's almost as big as his mother, Katrina (though she is kind of small). :):)... All of our other 2009 babies seem to have grown up already...I can't believe they're all close to being a year old here in a few more months! Time flies! As a mother would say..."my babies are growing up!" And of course, as you know, I think that all of our "older" does are all pregnant...which I'm very excited about! Only, hopefully this year they'll all be born in the spring, instead of the winter. But sometimes I don't have a say in the matter...check that...almost all the time I don't have a say in the matter! Pretty much ALL of our babies have been born in the winter! :) :)... But oh well, as long as they're healthy little babies and they stay that way...then I can compromise. :) :) :)... Here's a few of the pics I took today and a cute video of Cocoa. Enjoy them! :)